Nineteen local primary schools approved for Hot School Meals Programme
Nineteen local schools in Westmeath and Roscommon have been approved for the Hot School Meals Programme which was announced today (Monday) by Taoiseach Simon Harris and the Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys.
Today’s announcement means an additional 150,000 children will benefit from nutritious Hot Meals. The Taoiseach and Minister Humphreys have also announced that the any remaining Primary Schools who have not yet joined the scheme can now express an interest to receive Hot School Meals.
Welcoming the announcement, Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on Education, Aisling Dolan, said:
"I’ve spoken to Principals recently who highlighted the incredible impact of hot school meals for their school. How this has been a major transformation in the day to day lives of school children in Ireland. This landmark investment shows government’s central focus on childrens wellbeing."
Senator Dolan added: “Now with the news today, more children and families in Co. Roscommon will have hot school meals available in their school. Parents won’t have the additional morning task of preparing lunches and know that their children will have a good nutritious meal during the day.
“I encouraged schools to sign up to this pilot last year and I’m delighted to see so many take part in County Roscommon."
The Hot School Meals Programme was introduced in 2019 as a small pilot of 30 schools.
Speaking during a joint visit to St Thomas Junior National School in Lucan, Taoiseach Simon Harris said:
“I am so proud of this programme. It is one of the things that is mentioned to me most as I visit communities across the country.
“We launched Hot School Meals as a pilot 5-years ago and it has seen huge demand ever since. Today’s expansion to an additional 150,000 children means that over 316,000 children can now receive a nutritious, hot meal during their school day.”
“As Taoiseach I have promised to focus on delivery of our pledges to help families and today’s announcement is just one of the ways I am planning to do this.”
Minister Humphreys said:
“I am delighted to announce today that an additional 900 Primary Schools have been approved for the Hot School Meals Programme, many of which have already started getting their hot meals.
“When I was appointed Minister for Social Protection in June 2020, there were 30 schools receiving hot meals. Today’s announcement means that from today there are over 2,000 primary schools able to benefit from hot school meals. Every school that submitted an Expression of Interest has been brought onto the scheme.
“However, as news of the positive experience has spread, some schools who had not signed up previously are now interested in coming on board. I', delighted to hear this, so I am opening a new round of Expressions of Interest to allow us to bring hot school meals to these schools.
“My ambition is that every primary school child in the country will be receiving a hot meal in 2025. This is well ahead of our original target to make hot school meals universal in primary schools by 2030.”
Minister Humphreys has grown the Programme significantly in recent years and over 2,000 primary schools are now eligible to receive a hot meal.
Last year, Minister Humphreys signalled her intention to roll out the hot school meals Programme to all primary schools. As part of this significant expansion plan, all remaining primary schools were contacted and requested to submit an expression of interest form if their school is interested in commencing the provision of Hot Meals.
The Department of Social Protection provides the funding to schools for the School Meals Programme, and it is the responsibility of each school to choose their supplier in an open, fair and transparent manner in accordance with national legislation and EU directives on procurement.